Breeding.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Breeds in large colonies on islets of the Caribbean, tropical South Atlantic, Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf), Indonesian seas, and the full breadth of the Pacific Ocean\u2014but scarce and local in the eastern Pacific from Panama to Ecuador (and likely also to northwestern Peru).<\/p>

In the Caribbean region, breeds in essentially all island groups, but more abundant and ubiquitous eastward (Bahamas to Lesser Antilles) and more localized elsewhere.\u00a0 In the U.S., approximately 40,000 pairs nest on the Dry Tortugas (March to September), and small numbers nest on islets along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, and sporadically along the Atlantic Coast north to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.<\/p>

The Hawaiian population is estimated at approximately 1.4 million pairs, with the largest colonies on Lisianski (~500,000 pairs) and Laysan (~425,000), and smaller but still large colonies on French Frigate Shoals (~150,000), Midway (~100,000), Pearl and Hermes Reefs (~40,000), Kaula (~40,000), Necker (~20,000), Nihoa (~20,000), Kure (~10,000), Gardener Pinnacles (~400), and two islets east of Oahu: Manana (~75,000) and Moku Manu (~15,000).\u00a0 The timing of nesting at these colonies varies, and may begin at nearly any time of year, mainly between November and June.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t